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I have done this triathlon more than a handful of times but this time it was so much different! It was a complete Tri weekend… Denny participated in the Kids Triathlon for the first time on Saturday!

We practiced and trained for at least a month before. When I first signed him up, I thought he would be using training wheels for the bike. I was so excited that in just 2 weeks he learned to ride without training wheels AND improved at swimming! He started to love biking… Nate would sometimes even draft off of him 😉

The 7 year olds swam 50 meters, biked 1.5 miles, and ran 0.5 miles. He did SO awesome! He took it seriously and had a lot of fun!

I love watching him (and all of the kids)! It is very motivating! I think it’s also awesome that so many of my family members volunteered to make this event so great! Here is the “hot corner” where my mom directed the bikers and runners!

Sunday morning I actually felt more relaxed than usual before a race and felt like I really enjoyed it! I didn’t get many pictures but I did feel great! My time was 1:23:04 which was very similar to last year… and almost exactly one hour longer than Denny’s race! 🙂

Here I am happy to finish the bike (my least favorite part) and start the run (my favorite)!

The kids cheered us on with a bunch of my family!

Nate got 2nd in his age group and I got first in mine!

Then… as if this wasn’t a good enough day, we went to Kennywood to ride every ride that we can’t go on with the kids! We had so much fun and were definitely tired when we went to bed!

One of my brothers texted to let us know he was going to do this Tri… so my sister and I quickly signed up too! I love doing races especially with family and friends!

I get super excited that this race is an open water swim (even if it is only 400 meters)! The fact that it is open water seems exciting, even though I had a hard time getting into a good rhythm. My swim was over in 6:21 (too short!) 🙂

Then the bike was VERY hilly! I feel that I need to use my brakes on the downhills more then most racers do 😉 but the 7 miles went by really fast! My bike time was 29:52.

Before I knew it… I was running my bike back to the transition area!

I took a Huma gel and a quick drink (while running) to give me some energy for the 3.2 mile run!

I felt (mostly) great on the run! My run time was 23:47.

My total time was 1:02:27. This was almost my exact same time as last year!

It actually felt like we were racing together because my sister and I were in the 2nd heat and my brother was in the 4th heat. He caught me and passed me halfway through the run!

They both got 2nd place overall and I got first in my age group!

I’m thankful for these goofballs too! They were able to cheer me on, take lots of pictures, AND fight with sticks! 🙂

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and playing! It was a great day!

Even though I just raced 2 days ago, I decided to join Nate in our local 5k race! My mom and brother came to cheer us on and watch the kids! Plus, my dad also decided last minute to do it! I think the kids were happy with our decision to do the race too! They do love Eat’n Park cookies 🙂

We got in a good warm up while the kids were playing. Then they watched us do some striders before we started. Having them there is the best!

It was a fast start… especially for Nate! He ran his first mile in 5:25!

It was pretty humid, the course was a little long, there was a really steep hill at the end…

but my dad, Nate, and I powered through!

And we all had great races! Nate even got 2nd overall and I got first female! There were 148 total finishers!

We changed our clothes and headed to the pool! I think Ellie is pretending to break the finish line tape like me 😉

The water felt perfect! We even got to swim some laps in between playing!

Then we had an awesome cook out with family and the kids somehow managed to stay awake to see fireworks!!

My mom, sister, and I left Saturday afternoon for a fun road trip to Penn State University.

We stayed with my cousin and then also met up with my Aunt and Uncle who did the Tri too! We had a lot of fun exploring…

And of course racing! We got to watch my mom swim and no matter if she is running, biking, or swimming she always looks like she is having a good time 🙂

My sister and I were in the same heat so we got to hang out a little while and start together!

There were times that felt hard (& hot)… but that just means it was a good race 😉 I was sure happy to see that finish line!

I did the swim (750 meters) in 14:52, the bike (12 miles) in 45:25, and the run (5k) in 24:06. My overall time was 1:27:51… which includes the transition times that felt like a lot of running barefoot and then running with my bike! It was a great race and it shows because everyone in my family did awesome!

We all celebrated with an awesome brunch at the Waffle Shop AND going to the creamery to bring some home!!

I quickly decided after running Boston that I wanted to do a marathon again and soon! 🙂 I know that my body needed time to recover (and I didn’t run at all for an entire week)! I also knew that I did not feel my best at Boston and wanted to try one more time with all of the training I had already done!

After doing a little marathon research I decided Cleveland would be great! This meant we got to sleep two nights at Nate’s parents’ house which was perfect! This is our best attempt at “pretend” sleeping! Haha 🙂

This race was everything I wanted it to be! It was a lot more low-key than both the Pittsburgh and Boston marathons. Nate and I drove to Cleveland that morning and had plenty of time to get to the start line.

I just remember feeling SO great for the first 7+ miles. It was quite the opposite feeling a month ago at mile 7! I continued to remind myself that I trained to feel this good!

Around mile 14 things definitely started to feel hard and I decided to not worry about it too much and instead kind of zone out for a little while. I did that and before I knew it I was at mile 17 and feeling like I could pick it up a little! Around 18 I started to hurt again but felt huge rain drops and hoped there would NOT be lightning to cancel the race. I really wanted to finish!

The weather was predicted to storm (with lighting) at race time which would cause the officials to cancel the marathon. Plus, it was supposed to be 70 degrees with 80% humidity! However, it actually ended up being a perfect day… There wasn’t much sun and the breeze from the lake made it feel cooler!

I loved that Nate was able to see me a few times on the course plus run 20 miles on his own around the city!

The last 3 miles felt the toughest but I just kept pushing on (slower than before) but still happy and even smiling! 🙂

My time was almost the same as a month ago at Boston, but I felt completely different! I loved this marathon and want to do it again someday!

I also love that we were back with our kiddos to celebrate Nate’s dad’s 70th birthday before lunch time!

Unlike Boston, I’m not very sore… and even felt like a little hike with the whole group the next morning!

This Easter holiday was quite different… but I loved every minute of it! We managed to fit a lot in too!

Nate and I even got to pay attention at church… without kids! 😉 We went to church in Connecticut, towards the end of our 9 hour drive to Boston!

We spent the rest of Sunday exploring Boston and shocked by the crowds of runners getting ready for the marathon!

The energy at the expo was so much fun! We enjoyed it all!

We had the perfect pre-race evening! I made sure to hydrate extra because I knew race day would be warmer than I’m used to. I also found out that during the race there was a side-wind… imagine that! 😉

I have heard for YEARS (my parents have done 20+ marathons each!) how great the Boston Marathon is but only now, after having FINISHED, I know it truly is an amazing experience! I think finishing any marathon is amazing. However, most marathons are more individual (which I love… I am very self motivated!) whereas Boston is support from an entire city plus many, many more people that appreciate this marathon!

I have the best family and friends… which is why I am able to train for a marathon and go! I had my best training leading up to this marathon and I think I am in my best marathon shape ever. I was so grateful to be healthy, injury free, and rested going into this marathon. I also was worry free about my kids who were taken care of by both sets of grandparents. My husband was with me to help with everything! I don’t think it could be more perfect.

My day started out at 6 am with my usual race day oatmeal breakfast. The hotel then shuttled us to the long line of busses that would take all the runners to the start line. Don’t be fooled by my throw away clothes… it was already a sunny 68 degrees early in the morning! My bus arrived to Hopkinton around 9 am where I hung out at Athletes Village for about the next 2 hours. Athletes Village felt like a huge party with lots of food, music, and port-a-potties! I even put a few tattoos on my arms there!

At 10:50 it was finally time for me to start!

I followed my plan to run the first few miles conservatively. Considering the 70 degree and sunny weather I planned to not use too much energy on the early miles and pick it up or slow down depending on what I needed. After a short time I was dripping with sweat and very hot. Things that never hurt on me started to hurt. I never want to make excuses while I’m running (because if I start they will just keep coming!) but I knew the heat was a big factor for me. All of my training was outside in cold weather and my body just isn’t used to the heat yet.

At mile 7, I made the decision that I was going to finish and do the best I could do. Sure, it was a little depressing looking at my watch and feeling like I was going faster than I actually was, but I am proud to say I finished. I also never walked or stopped running. I did my best to use the excitment from the crowd and my own motivation to keep me going! From being a runner that doesn’t love hydrating while running… I took a sip of gatorade or water almost every mile and dumped water on my head more than 10 times! In addition to all the liquid, I ate three huma gels and my stomach felt great. My legs and body temperature were what was holding me back. I looked forward to dumping a cup full of water on my head and neck most miles. There were a few cool sprinklers, ice cubes, and wet paper towels along the course and they felt wonderful. Somehow, at mile 18, I got water in my right ear and couldn’t get it out! I couldn’t hear in that ear at all until a few minutes after I finished! Which may be why I didn’t hear my amazing husband cheering at mile 25 for me.

It’s crazy because I remember thinking that I didn’t want my picture taken… I imagined my form being way off and feeling like I looked terrible, but a lot of the pictures I’ve seen I really like!

I honestly didn’t know if I would be able to stand once I got to the finish line! I did stand and walk through (what felt like) a mile of finish line food to where I could finally get to my husband! After I finished, the weather was overcast and much, much cooler! I actually needed the foil blanket to keep me and my wet clothes warm!

Although my goal time was 20+ minutes faster I finished at 3:50:28. I was 12,865 out of 26,411 total finishers and I was the 4,355 female out of 11,973 females.

We then went with a huge crowd on the T and back to our hotel! The entire time I felt awesome with people asking if I ran the entire marathon! 🙂 We had a delicious dinner and relaxing night. It’s the best when you have a runner husband that loves hearing and sharing every detail! He has some really funny spectator stories and got in a long run before I even started the marathon!

I’m typing this with the sorest legs I’ve ever had! I know that in the future I want to run many more marathons and Boston again… when I can do it with my favorite running family and friends! I will never forget this great experience and I’m so thankful for everyone who helped me make it happen.

We hope the warmer weather is here to stay and we can bundle up a little less! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited/anxious for Easter and EASTER MONDAY / PATRIOT’S DAY / BOSTON MARATHON DAY!!! Happy April!